


Her Worst Fear

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Comfortember 2020 [11]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: "Ben—” her voice broke on the name, “He was out there, minding his own business—he didn’t come home! My nephew is out there actively looking for trouble. I just can’t—I can’t lose him too,” she let another sob escape.~~On one of his first patrols since she found out Peter was Spider-Man, May is a bottle of nerves. It all gets too much and she calls Tony to talk her down.Comfortember, Day 11: PTSD
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995802
Comments: 16
Kudos: 88
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Her Worst Fear

**Author's Note:**

> Day 11!! A bit of a heavier one tonight! Hope you still enjoy it!

May Parker paced back and forth in her tiny apartment. She was nervous, and when she was nervous she paced. When she was nervous she also bit off all her nails, and the inside of her cheeks, habits she had been alternating between for the last hour as she paced.

It had been two weeks since she had officially found out about Peter being Spider-Man. His actual ‘internship’, not the fake one her nephew and Tony Stark had concocted to keep her none the wiser.

She had already called Tony Stark to chew him out. That was actually one of the first things she did after discovering the news, that and grounding her nephew for life, which turned out to be approximately 10 days in the end. After yelling herself hoarse over the phone, Tony had invited her to the tower the following day, where she proceeded to do the same, but much louder, and in person.

Tony had taken all the backlash though, he had deserved it, he admitted. Darn right he did. But, once May had yelled, and gotten everything that was on her mind out in the open, the adults had sat down and discussed everything. Everything they would need to be on the same page about if May was ever going to let her nephew swing from buildings chasing bad guys in a spandex suit ever again.

It had been a good talk. If May had stepped back for a moment to realize she was basically having a parenting discussion with Tony Stark in his New York City penthouse, she would have shaken her head in disbelief. Never would she have imagined in her wildest dreams a situation like that. Yet it had happened, and Tony had even somehow managed to calm her down enough to agree to Spider-Man continuing his patrols, with tons of new rules, of course.

One of those rules happened to be a very strict curfew, which is what May was struggling with at the moment.

Tonight, Peter was to be home by eleven. He had whined about it before he left, but May wasn’t giving in. It was a school night after all, and Peter’s education was important. The most important.

May and Tony had agreed that eleven seemed fair for a school night. That’s why May was upset with herself for being this anxious at only ten-thirty. Her nephew still had half an hour to make it home, yet for the last hour, May had been a bottle of nerves.

She finally couldn’t take it anymore and dialed a number she had only used a few times, but one she had a feeling would become as familiar as her childhood best friend’s pretty soon.

She heard the click of the call being picked up on the other end but didn’t wait.

“I can’t do this,” she confessed into the phone.

“Can’t do—May?” Tony Stark fumbled from the other end, “Is Peter okay? I haven’t gotten any blips on my screen.”

“I think so, I mean, you’d tell me if he wasn’t, right?” her voice shook as she talked.

“Of course,” Tony confirmed, “You know I have every protection known to man in that suit.”

“Right,” May nodded, even though the man couldn’t see her. “They’re not faulty, are they?”

“I mean, no? They shouldn’t be. Unless your nephew messed with the coding again,” he muttered disapprovingly.

“Oh my God, what if he did?” May cried into the speaker.

“May, what is going on? It’s not even eleven yet, what has you so on edge? Peter’s fine.”

Those two words,  _ Peter’s fine _ , and somehow the floodgates were broken. May let a broken sob out, and then a terrifying, high-pitched, wail.

“May,” Tony said more forcefully this time, “You’re scaring me now. Are. You. Okay?” He spoke each word slowly.

“Peter, I don’t—I can’t,” she broke off again, trying desperately to catch her breath.

“Alright, May, listen. I have Peter’s baby monitor pulled up right here. Do you want me to send you the link? He’s happily swinging closer to Queens right now. It looks like a slow night for him.”

“You can see him?” May croaked, her breathing starting to even out.

“I’m watching him right now. I just sent the video link to your phone. Open it and see for yourself.”

She pulled her phone from her ear and clicked the link. He was right. The buildings were whipping past from Peter’s point of view. She was pretty sure he was laughing. She saw a familiar building and was aware that he was indeed getting closer to their area.

She took a deep breath, instantly feeling calmer, “He’s right there, he’s okay.”

She wasn’t sure if she was talking to Tony or herself anymore.

She pulled the phone back to her ear, “He’s okay.”

“He is,” Tony confirmed, relief in his voice. Probably happy that he didn’t have a crazy lady sobbing in his ear anymore. “May? What was that?”

May sighed, embarrassed, “Tony, I—I’m sorry. I got myself worked up and I couldn’t calm down, and everything felt big and the negative thoughts got louder and louder,” she admitted tearfully, “He’s out there, it’s not safe. Ben—” her voice broke on the name, “He was out there, minding his own business—he didn’t come home! My nephew is out there actively  _ looking _ for trouble. I just can’t—I can’t lose him too,” she let another sob escape.

“Shh,” Tony comforted the best he could, “I understand May, believe me, I get it. When those old memories come up, when the anxiety tries to tell us it’s all going to happen again, because why wouldn’t it, right? But it’s okay, May. I know you’re scared, you have every right to be. But, we are looking out for that boy every possible way we can. He is a superhero, but he is the safest superhero out there, I can promise you that. I am doing everything in my power to make sure of that.”

May was silent for a moment, “I don’t like this.”

“I know,” Tony acknowledged, “But Peter is going to find a way to do what he does, May. You raised him so well, he won’t stand back and let others be hurt. That kid’s got a heart of pure gold.”

“I know,” May agreed, “He’s the best kid.”

“He is,” Tony sighed, “And I’d rather see him safe out there, with our protocols in place, then have him sneaking around behind our backs, wouldn’t you?”

“He’s already done that once,” May pointed out.

“Never again,” Tony promised.

May sighed, feeling utterly exhausted now, “Is he still swinging?”

“He should be crawling through his window in approximately six minutes,” Tony confirmed.

“Okay,” May exhaled, still pressing the phone to her ear as she closed her eyes.

“Are you better now?”

“For now,” May admitted, “Thank you, Tony, for being there, not only for my nephew but for me as well. You’re different than they say.”

“I appreciate that Mrs. Parker,” Tony spoke, “I’ll always be here to help. You can call me anytime. I mean it.”

“I just might take you up on that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to thank everyone for the amazing comments throughout this month so far! I have been smiling since November 1st because of all of you!! ❤️


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